At least 60 fresh cases of Covid-19 have surfaced in Jharkhand in the past 48 hours, raising concerns over the spread and number of SARS-CoV-2 infections, amid the fear of the new Omicron variant that has already made its way to some Indian states that are well-connected to Jharkhand by air and railways.

As per data compiled by the National Health Mission (NHM), Jharkhand reported at least 35 fresh Covid cases on Saturday and 25 Covid cases on Sunday. In these two days, the state reported 60 fresh cases of coronavirus infection against hardly 25 Covid recoveries, and the active caseload in the state jumped to 127 from 95 on December 2, figures with the health department revealed.

In the wake of the Omicron variant of coronavirus, Jharkhand has prepared a list of close to 150 international travellers who have come to the state in the past 14 days. These travellers are being screened and tested by the concerned districts, but many districts are yet to share the test reports with the health department in Ranchi, officials said.

A Covid-19 patient, suspected to have been infected by the Omicron variant of the virus, has been admitted in a private hospital in Ranchi, and his RT PCR samples have been sent for whole genome sequencing to Bhubaneswar, a source from Ranchi civil surgeon’s office said on Monday.

“Whole genome sequencing is the only way to tell if a person is infected by the new variant. Genome sequencing results of many Covid patients are awaited,” he said.

As per government data, Ranchi continues to be the worst-affected district in terms of the active caseload in Jharkhand. At least 50 Ranchi residents were battling Covid-19 on Monday morning, while 41 people were undergoing treatment for the viral infection in East Singhbhum. These two districts account for more than 70 per cent of active Covid cases in the state.

The state has also failed to achieve its daily vaccination target in the first five days of December. The health department had set a target of vaccinating at least 4 lakh individuals daily in the month of December, and Jharkhand has vaccinated about 1 lakh residents daily on an average this month.

As per government data, 69.92 per cent of the over 2.41 crore vaccine beneficiaries in the state have received at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine, while 34.61 per cent of beneficiaries have also received the second jab. The state has so far reported close to 3.5 lakh Covid cases, and 98.50 per cent of patients have recovered, while 1.47 per cent of them could not survive.